Coroner: Woman found burned beyond recognition on roadside near Allentown

Thursday

Dec 27, 2012 at 8:15 PM

A woman was found dead and burned beyond recognition on the side of a Salisbury Township road Thursday morning in what Lehigh County authorities are describing as a suspicious death.

MANUEL GAMIZ JR.

A woman was found dead and burned beyond recognition on the side of a Salisbury Township road Thursday morning in what Lehigh County authorities are describing as a suspicious death.

The unidentified victim is a white or light-skinned Hispanic female between 20 and 40 years old. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday,Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim said because of the severity of the burns, forensic testing and dental records will be needed to identify the woman, now being referred to as Jane Doe.

Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin responded to the scene, which is just beyond the Unami Fish and Game Association on Chestnut Hill Road near the base of South Mountain.

Martin would not comment on the investigation, but labeled it a suspicious death.

"A body was discovered off Chestnut Hill Road in Salisbury Township at about 9:40 a.m.," he said. "Salisbury Township police, the District Attorney's Office and the Coroner's Office are conducting an investigation. It is being considered a suspicious death."

The body was located on a road just outside the gun club and was initially reported as a fire in the area, according to emergency dispatchers.

The coroner's office was dispatched almost an hour later, and was told it was a "body on fire," authorities said.

Grim said the woman was pronounced dead at 10:20 a.m.

The coroner's office, along with Salisbury and state police, were at the scene for several hours. Most of their attention was focused just outside the gun club on Chestnut Hill Road, which starts off to the north as Second Street in Emmaus. The area also borders Upper Milford Township.

Residents who live near the gun club said they did not see anything suspicious in the morning.

Tim Bollinger, who lives across the street from the gun club, said he had left his home in the morning to get work done of his car and returned at 9:45 a.m. and the street was closed off.

He said emergency crews eventually allowed him to get to his home, but did not give him any information about what had happened. He said he initially thought someone lost control while rounding a curve on the icy roads.

"If there was something suspicious that would happen in the neighborhood, none of the neighbors would pay any attention because you hear the shooting all the time any ways," he said. "So I just assumed it was a car accident."

This is the second time this year a woman's body was found on the side of the road in Salisbury Township.

On July 5, the body of 20-year-old Kimberly Cardona was found dumped on Lanze Lane with her throat slit and bleach poured on her body. Jonathan Nunez was later charged with her death and is awaiting trial in Lehigh County Court.

Police said Nunez beat Cardona unconscious, left her for dead along the road and then went to the hospital to treat wounds he suffered when he assaulted Cardona. Nunez returned hours later and found Cardona still alive and gasping for breath. That's when he pulled out a box cutter, slit her throat and dragged her body into the woods, police said.

Cardona's body was discovered a day later by a man walking his dogs.

Both locations are in heavily wooded areas of the township, more than five miles apart from each other.___